Glow (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: An evening with Aunt Deb is both entertaining and reflective.


**Notes:** Thanks to Mari and Sammy for their awesome feedback as always. And thanks to SuperSammy for the title. Layers!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated. And a special thank you for sharing your own related memories in reviews. We truly do love reading those.

**Hope you enjoy!**

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_Glow (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

After a lowkey midweek dinner in which they were joined by Danny, Gabby, and Grace, the adults sat around the living room as Angie plopped herself in the middle of the floor with Grace, showing off the contents of her Easter basket.

Grace had seen most of it Sunday, but indulged her young cousin by oohing and ahhing over each item.

Angie squealed a little when she picked up a plastic egg. She pushed herself up and grabbed Grace's hand, tugging at her. "Go see!" she demanded. "Potty!"

"Oh, do you have to go potty?" Grace asked, standing and following as Angie led her toward the downstairs bathroom.

"No, she just wants to see an egg glow in the dark," Catherine called after them. She looked at Danny and Gabby and explained, "Those are the glow-in-the-dark eggs Deb brought for her and she was so disappointed they didn't glow during the day that Steve took her to the bathroom and turned off the light so they would."

"Now she keeps going back there to look at them," Steve said with a smile.

Deb grinned. "The gift that keeps on giving."

Grace and Angie returned a minute later.

"What else is in your Easter basket?" Grace asked, sitting on the floor again.

"See?" Angie said, showing her the little stuffed bunny Joan had picked out for her and sent with an Easter package. "Bunny!"

"Yes, it's a cute little bunny," Grace said, tapping the fuzzy purple ear.

"Who got you that little bunny, Angie?" Catherine said.

Angie beamed. "Noni!"

"That's right, your cousin Joanie."

"Little Bunny," Deb said. "That reminds me of a song." Both Angie and Grace looked over at her. "Do you know the Little Bunny Foo Foo song?"

Gabby gasped. "Ohh, I remember that song from Brownies."

Deb started to sing, doing little hand motions to match the lyrics. "_Little Bunny Foo Foo, hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' 'em on the head. Down came the Good Fairy and she said, 'Little Bunny Foo Foo, I don't want to see you scooping up the field mice and boppin' 'em on the head. I'll give you three chances and if you don't behave, I'm going to turn you into a goon!'_ "

Angie clapped excitedly, bouncing along, having stood and moved over to stand by Deb as she sang.

"I'd say she likes it," Gabby said with a smile.

Deb grinned. "You know who else liked that song?" she asked Angie. She looked across the room. "Your daddy."

Steve quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

Danny snorted. "That figures."

"What do you mean, 'That figures'?" Steve asked.

"It figures you'd like a song about boppin' somebody on the head."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on …"

"Don't tell Kaitlyn that was your favorite song, Uncle Steve," Grace warned.

"Maybe I liked it because the Good Fairy came to the mice's defense," Steve said.

Deb shook her head, thoroughly amused. "No, you really liked the boppin' 'em on the head part."

Danny snorted again. "Told you."

"When I'd call, you'd beg me to sing it," Deb said. " 'Foo Foo! Foo Foo!' "

Steve ran a hand over his eyes, wincing. Beside him, Catherine smiled and rubbed his arm, sensing the mix of emotions he was feeling at the story, clearly new to him.

"Tell me you have a recording," Danny said to Deb. "I will pay you cash money for a tape of that."

Steve's look was a combination of worry and hope, but Deb shook her head. "Afraid not."

"Little Bunny Foo Foo," Grace said. "I never heard that song before."

"You never sang it in Aloha Girls?" Gabby asked.

"I think I would have remembered. Why is the bunny boppin' the field mice in the head?"

Gabby shrugged. "As an excuse for the Good Fairy to come down and tell him to stop."

"Pretty much," Catherine agreed with a chuckle. "It's a cautionary tale."

"Complete with the casual and unnecessary violence in so many nursery rhymes," Gabby added.

"But with a great moral," Catherine said.

Together, Catherine, Gabby, and Deb said, "Hare today, goon tomorrow!" as they laughed.

Angie laughed, too, then tapped Deb's leg with the stuffed bunny. "Foo Foo!"

Deb smiled at Steve. "Like father, like daughter," she said before launching into the next verse.

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That evening, Steve and Deb sat on the deck alone talking companionably. Deb smiled as she looked out at Angie's beach shack playhouse, a birthday gift from Mary and Aaron.

"I've probably said it before, but it's good to see kid stuff in the backyard again," she said. "The yard hasn't been this full since your father took down the swingset he built for you. Do you remember it?"

"Of course. He built it when I was just a little older than Angie. Mary and I loved that thing." He looked out as if picturing it there, taking a long drink from his beer. "You know, I wondered when … I mean, obviously it was gone when I came back to the island …" He looked at her. "When did he take it down? Do you know?"

"Not long after …" She paused. "After he sent you and your sister away. You'd both outgrown it anyway and I think … I think it was too painful for him to look at. One more reminder of his decision."

Steve nodded slowly and they sat in silence for a long moment.

"I put it there," he said finally, nodding toward the playhouse, "where the old swingset was thinking that when Angie gets a little older, we could add on to it. Attach a swing and a slide. Maybe some bars or rings to cross. Like the old one."

Deb smiled softly. "I think that's an excellent idea. John would have approved wholeheartedly."

Steve smiled back. "I'm sure he never expected someday his son would be planning to build another swingset for his grandchild in the very same spot."

"I'm sure he didn't," she agreed. She touched his hand. "But he'd be proud just the same."

Steve's smile was tinged with sadness as his gaze drifted back to the yard. "I wish he was here to help."

She squeezed his hand. "So do I."

They sat quietly again, each lost in their own reflections. After a moment, Deb patted his hand and sat back in her chair.

He looked over at her. "I'm glad you're here, Aunt Deb."

She grinned. "Even if I tell embarrassing stories about you?"

He chuckled, glancing down for a second before looking back at her. "Did I really like the Bunny Foo Foo song?"

"You did," she replied.

He shook his head, but smiled. "Embarrassing or not, I'm glad there's someone who … knows stories from when I was young. For me and … and for Angie. So she'll know them, too."

She reached for his hand again, her smile full of promise. "I'll tell you every one."

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